Why can’t Bell fix its customer service?
October 19 2009 by Ellen Roseman
Bell continues to frustrate, annoy and enrage its customers. I found out when I did my latest Star column on Bell Blues and got a very enthusiastic response.
I wondered if there was a chance that complaints were levelling off. No way. Only one reader tried to defend Ma Bell, while many others gleefully diagnosed its faults.
See comments below and at Bell Blues, where number 600 is in sight. Investors may wonder, as Bylo does in his comment posted today, how much better this company could perform if it could sharpen up its laggard approach to service.
KP
Oct 19 2009
I have had nothing but good service from Bell, including them ‘trusting’ me when I said my high speed internet modem was having issues with wireless connectivity. (I refused to go through the step-by-step troubleshooting they started me doing, as I said I did it all myself already.)
Even when I upgraded my Blackberry a month ago and didn’t want to pay the $35 upgrade fee, the Bell rep (at a Bell store) helped me to get through to Customer Service and request the savings a different way. (They can’t waive the fee, but they gave me a 50% reduction in my smart bundle for 7 months, which actually worked out to $105).
Usually, I find, it’s the tone that is demonstrated to Customer Service that dictates how they treat you, but I treat them as I would want to be treated, and they seem to help me.
JS
Oct 19 2009
I live in a small town. Wightman is a local phone company that brought fibre optic cable into several area towns.
We moved our telephone land line from Bell to Wightman. When our cell phone contract is over, we may move that from Bell as well.
After leaving Bell, we have received several phone calls and letters from Bell wanting us to come back. In fact, we received a letter earlier this week, even though we left Bell about 8 months ago.
I have asked Bell to quit phoning and writing several times. But it has not worked. As I told more than one Bell representative, if you worked this hard to keep my business you would not be phoning me now trying to get it back.
Bell was a nightmare to deal with. I doubt they will ever get my business again.
By the way, my daughter was receiving an e-bill from Bell. All of sudden it stopped coming. It took her two years to get Bell to straighten it out. She is just now receiving a paper bill each month.
BB
Oct 19 2009
We are a retired couple, just moved from Orillia to Barrie.
Sold the house and rented an apartment.
Called Bell and explained we wanted service to overlap for 2 weeks while I moved. They asked for 2 pieces of ID. I said I have had an account with Bell for 50 years, never late with a payment, but he would not budge. No ID,no account, not just 1 but 2 pieces.
Now have VOIP (not Rogers or Bell), also 20% the price of Bell. Great service, great company.
As an aside, I set up accounts with Rogers Cable and Barrie Hydro — both companies that had never heard of me before –with one piece of ID.
Unlike some of the people you helped, I have no intention of ever returning to Bell. There are lots of other options and I wonder when Bell will finally, if ever, realize this.
PA
Oct 19 2009
I am a telecommunications professional, who owns and operates a telecommunications and I.P. video security business. I got my start in 1986. My story is yet another tale of the complete ineptness of the “new Bell”.
We moved from Napanee to Selby, Ont. (5 mins. north of Napanee) back in March of ’09, and transferred our telephone service, only, because Bell does not, and cannot possibly offer their Bell Sympatico DSL high speed internet service in Selby, a small rural town.
We sent our Sympatico modem back to them in February of ’09 before we moved. We still received charges for DSL through JULY of ’09 after spending literally DAYS of my time trying in vain to explain they were billing for a service we could not possibly get!!
Many times, I was on hold for over 20 minutes at a time while someone at Bell, who could hardly speak the Queen’s English, attempted to “look into the problem” with my Bell bill.
This company has truly become a laughing stock in our business. Horrendous service from Bell Canada is no joke when Canadians rely on telecommunications more than ever.
I have finally decided to invoice Bell Canada for my valuable time as a telecommunications technologist for the 23.5 hours of my wasted time.
We now have Primus Talk Broadband telephone service over our wireless high speed broadband connection through OmniGlobe Networks, and it works GREAT!!
I encourage every Canadian out there to leave Bell Canada for other telecommunications service providers who truly serve customers with the professionalism and service they deserve.
Bell Canada has become the absolute worst service provider at ridiculous prices. There is no need for ANYBODY to be abused and berated by their completely inept staff.
EM
Oct 19 2009
In July, I discovered my phone was dead, no dial tone. I contacted Bell by cell phone to ask to have it repaired. I believe I was speaking with a woman in India and eventually convinced her to send someone to fix the problem.
A technician came and discovered that the line leading into our house had been chewed by squirrels and required replacement. He did so, leaving me with his report stating ‘aerial drop wire replaced, no charges applicable’.
My next Bell statement contained two charges of $55 for a maintenance plan called Op-WireCare-12M. I had never requested any such plan, so immediately called Bell and asked this charge to be removed as it wasn’t ordered.
I was advised this would be done, so I only paid my normal charges and not the $110 plus tax.
On my September statement, there were two charges of $35 for maintenance plan termination. In addition, there was an amount of $124.30 indicated as a balance carried forward, which I presume was the $110 plus taxes.
Now I was not only being charged for a plan I did not want, but an additional $70 plus taxes to discontinue the plan.
I got back on the phone to Bell. After being refered to a supervisor, I was told that without paying for the plan, I would be charged $150 for repairing the telephone line.
After several more calls and attempts to speak with someone with authority to make decisions, I decided to terminate my Bell service and go with another provider.
On my final statement (Oct. 10), I now had an unpaid balance forward of $203.26, plus my normal phone charges of $56.28, for a total of 262.03.
Once again I called Bell and tried an email to their billing website, which brought a return email and online chat with someone called Delicia. The last statement from her was “I am afraid we cannot revoke the charges.”
A further email suggested I call the business office at 310-bell, which I did, but had no more success. By this time, I had switched over to Cogeco for my phone service.
I finally did a search and found an email address for BCE, and sent another email trying to explain my situation. Imagine my surprise when on Oct. 16, I received a call from someone in their sales office in Toronto, trying to get me to return to Bell.
I finally told him I was just past any futher talking to
Bell and said goodbye.
I believe that Bell’s problems are mostly because of their offshore call centre and employees there trying to impress their supervisors.
Presumably, the more customers they sign up for maintenance contracts, the better they will look. It doesn’t seem that there is any method of determining if the customer actually did, in fact, request such a contract.
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Further to my last email, I received a call today from Bell Canada advising me that all charges had been removed and my account was now 0.
My sincere thanks for taking the time to respond to my story.
FH
Oct 19 2009
Some months ago when I was approaching the end of a Rogers contract (phone, internet and TV), I called Bell to inquire about costs for the same services.
The telemarketer was polite and informative, but to my mind needed too much information just to quote on fees. When he asked for my credit card, I balked and said no.
I asked for time to consider both systems and said I would be prepared to answer in one week. One week later, my answering machine had a message from a Bell techie asking the best time to install equipment.
I ignored the call, along with two or three more. While Bell would save me a couple of bucks a month, it meant changing phone number and E-mail address and I had no interest in the service.
Then the bills started. At first I ignored them, then I marked them return to sender, then I wrote rude remarks on one and sent it back.
Two more pieces of correspondence arrived before I received a call from accounts receivable. She would not listen to my situation: “I just have to phone people eight hours a day.”
At no time did I indicate a desire for the service and in fact told the telemarketer I was only comparing prices. Thank goodness I was smart enough to keep my card number to myself.
MG
Oct 19 2009
A few years ago, I decided to forgo long distance plans with Bell. I simply exercised a bit of discipline and used long distance at the cheapest times.
Several months ago, I noticed an additional $1.95 charge on my bill. I was told that since I didn’t have a plan, a flat $1.95 charge would automatically apply to the first long distance call I made that month. No charge would apply if I didn’t make any long distance calls.
Since then, I use Yak. The charges come through on the Bell bill, but no $1.95.
More recently, I noticed a new $2 charge on my bill. The explanation was unclear. It actually read like a change I had requested.
I asked and was told that I was being charged $2 a month for not having any options on my line (i.e. call display, call waiting, call answer, etc.).
To be clear, I asked him if indeed I was being charged $2 a month for the privilege of NOT choosing any options. He said yes.
I replied: Which part of the word ‘option’ do people at Bell not understand?
I told him that enough was enough and I was looking for another carrier. He said my long distance was officially with Bell and I had Sympatico. I therefore qualified for a bundle and though he could not remove the new $2 per month charge, he could apply a $5 discount that would mean a saving of $3 a month.
I wasn’t looking for a reduction in my phone bill, simply the removal of this totally ridiculous $2 penalty for not purchasing options from Bell.
A few friends of mine have recently been charged $100 for prematurely cancelling their Sympatico accounts. They may have made changes to their bundles, but at no time did they cancel their Sympatico accounts. I believe the charges have since been reversed. However, why were they instituted in the first place?
We are not stupid people, but cannot understand the culture at Bell Canada.
Alysha
Oct 19 2009
One thing that I do if one customer service rep. offers me some service that seems really great, I call back another day, speak with somebody else and ask them about it. If they have no idea what I am talking about, I know that signing up for it will only get me screwed. I hate it, but yelling often gets me what I want.
GS
Oct 19 2009
Bell is increasing “our” long distance services effective Jan. 1, 2010.
The My Province long distance package will go from $2.95 per month and increase by $2. That is about a 70% increase??
Hope you let your readers know. I think that I will remove the My Province package as I have been using an internet service number for long distance of late and it works great, http://www.1011295.com.
You dial 1011295, then 1+ (area code + number). Bell gets 25 cents for facilitating the call and anywhere across Canada & USA it is 2 cents per minute. And many countries are available via land line and cell phones too. I can call my cousins in England for 3 cents per minute.
Always a reader
PN
Oct 19 2009
About four years ago, I bundled my services with Bell to take advantage of the single bill. Not only did I not get the single bill until three years later, but every month (I’m not exaggerating) for that three years I had to call about errors on my phone, internet and cell phone bills.
My solution was when my internet contract ended, I switched my phone and internet to another supplier. And when my cell phone contract expired, I switched to Rogers.
Even then, Bell haunted me by saying that sending a letter (which they acknowledge receiving) wasn’t the proper cancellation procedure (they wanted me to phone them) and kept sending me cell phone bills.
I finally called their service people, and after a half hour on the phone, and threatening to write a letter to the CRTC about their business practices, they agreed that I had cancelled my cell service and would credit and cancel my account.
I had done business with Ma Bell for decades. That meant nothing in terms of service to me.
JB
Oct 19 2009
About two months ago, I received a snail mail from Bell telling me that there was a new system in place that would relieve me of the problem of refreshing my cellphone account every 60 days (at which point, I must put some money in to maintain service) and inviting me to call in to have it explained to me.
I did so, and talked to a lady who said the new plan was tailored to serve people like me who have a balance in their account (there was $118 in there).
The plan was this: I could have free service for seven months at $15 per month, drawing on the $118. I asked if I would be charged the $15 even if I did not use the phone during that period. Yes, I would be.
So I said no thanks, I like the balance being there, and paying $15 per month for nothing didn’t appeal to me.
The next thing that happened — and I wonder if it was happenstance or coincidental — was that on Sept. 29, when I tried to update the account by putting some money in it (the robotic Bell voice had informed all during September that Sept. 30 was my expiry date), I was informed (robot again) that the account was suspended.
I spent the most of that day and the next (Sept. 30) trying in vain to get someone to talk to. I then went to a Bell Mobility dealer who, after about 20 minutes of trying, did get a real person on the line.
When I explained my dilemma, she informed me quite haughtily that I was mistaken — the expiry date was Sept. 28, and there was no possibility I could have heard Sept. 30 on the robotic voice message. I disputed that.
Much back-and-forthing, during which I said that I didn’t like being called a liar, and she said she wasn’t saying that, just that I was wrong. So I told her that I was mad enough to be in touch with you and that I would also write letters to every newspaper in Ontario, and that I wanted to speak to someone else. She said all right, but her supervisor would tell me the same thing.
After a long pause, another woman came on the line and lectured me as if I were a schoolboy (I am 83) and said I was wrong. But, she said, as a special consideration to me, never to be repeated, they would restore my balance and reinstate the service.
Pity. I still had two arguments left — that I had been a landline customer of Bell since 1951 and had paid every account within 24 hours of receipt, and that maybe I should go to Rogers for service. (Although from what I read, that`s not much better).
I still don`t really know what persuaded them to put the money back (although they shorted me about $25, I think, and the brouhaha was probably worth that to me), but if you wish to take credit for the resolution of the matter, be my guest.
VG
Oct 19 2009
I am sharing this experience with you, in support of your column about Bell Canada’s customer service.
In February 2008, my mother died unexpectedly. I managed her estate, and ensured all bills were settled up for her modest apartment (she was a wonderfully independent gal at age 78).
Over the following days, I reviewed her Bell telephone account, paid the small balance of $36 and contacted Bell customer service to terminate the landline contract.
While administering this, the Bell customer service rep offered me a unique service - when callers dialed my mother’s phone number, they would receive a prerecorded voice message referring to my phone number. Great! This was a one year service for a modest fee of $60.
I agreed immediately, as I was a Bell customer and would gladly incur this cost.
A few months passed by. I was very satisfied with the forwarding announcement activated, as requested. I had not noticed the service fee of $60 added to my account. Only after the ridiculous scenario that would follow did I realize this fee was unresolved.
As the sole heir to my mother’s estate, I had many things to think about, not to mention the abject shock and grief of my loss. It just wasn’t on my radar.
The Bell Canada debacle begins now.
Three months after my mother’s death, I received a phone call at my home number one evening, asking for VG - me. It was a collection agency. They demanded - and I mean demanded - that I submit my chequing account details immediately for an overdue bill of $60 to Bell Canada.
My Bell account had no outstanding balance, so I explained this, and challenged the caller on this point. They insisted I owed the amount.
The following day I called Bell Canada with this concern. They explained that my balance was indeed clear and they knew nothing about this.They reassured me this was nothing to worry about.
That evening I received another horrible, aggressive, shouting collection call, insisting that I provide my chequing account details to pay for this debt over the phone. I demanded they identify their organization, they refused and hung up.
The following day, I contacted the RCMP Fraud Squad line, received excellent support and when I provided them with the collection agency telephone number, the RCMP verified it was a legitimate business. They recommended I contact Bell Canada.
I did. And I did again and again and again. No one knew anything. This would go on for several more days of asking for a supervisor.
I decided to call the collection agency. The receptionist graciously forwarded me to the business manager. This individual immediately apologized and reviewed the file with me. It was at that moment that we both realized what had happened.
My name and my beloved mother’s name happens to be VG. Bell had not amended the records for these accounts properly. The Collection Agency thought I was VG (senior) with the arrears - not knowing she was deceased and that the account should have been closed.
Ironically, they reached me because of the ‘forwarding message’ that Bell had implemented in the first place.
Are you seeing the absurd irony yet?
The manager at this collection agency promised there would be no further calls to my home. He was sincerely supportive of my dilemma.
The following day, I paid the $60 on the deceased VG account (which is where this fee was buried - no pun intended).
I asked and was told that these details would be resolved. I also asked that a statement of my mother’s account be mailed to me. It never was.
Here is the happy ending.
Exactly one year later, when this ‘forwarding message’ service expired, I called Bell Canada, I cancelled my business with them and immediately set up a robust bundle package with Rogers.
I wrote a letter to this effect to the so-called customer service office, received a tepid form letter of ’sorry to see you go’, and that was it.
It has been 18 months, and I get solicitations by mail every month from Bell Canada, a tacky marketing strategy that begs me to return. I have not bothered to contact the Bell office to request they stop mailing me.
I take tremendous pleasure in knowing that they are wasting their direct mail budget on me - may they go bankrupt if enough of us stand firm on our values.
Business is about people. My beloved mother knew that, all her years as an administrator at Canada Trust (they set the bar). She’s having a good old chuckle with me right now.
Thank you for reading this.
Cheers!
BC
Oct 20 2009
Since early 2008, I have been trying to resolve problems on my monthly Bell One-Bill account and on 2 or 3 occasions over that period I’ve written to you.
In October 2008, emails were exchanged between you, president Kevin Crull and myself. (See comments below.)
In frustration, I have gone through each monthly invoice since January 2008, posting billable line items in an Excel spreadsheet, including the calculation of sales taxes.
My dogged persistence (which included emailing the President and Chief Financial Officer) has paid off, in that some but not all of my issues have been addressed.
While I attempted to keep this email short, it is never possible when related to Bell, for which I apologize.
1. As a One-Bill customer, I am entitled to a monthly ‘bundle savings’ on my invoice.
Between Febraury and December ‘08, Bell omitted discounts totalling $90 before Sales Taxes.
Bell’s errors billing errors included:
* 1 month with all discounts omitted – June invoice
* 5 months with 2 discounts omitted – Feb thru May + July
* 5 months with 1 discount omitted – Aug thru Dec
The credits appeared on my September 2009 invoice. I’m still awaiting the GST & PST!
The adjustments were posted to my invoice as ‘Reversal of Hardware Fee’. I can only guess how this will affect their internal accounting!
I’m left to ponder the question: At some point in the future, will a $90 charge appear on some future invoice reversing the credit adjustment that was misidentified on my invoice of Sept. ‘09?
2. A significant invoicing problem is that Bell does not identify and print the Sales Tax status of each billable line item on their invoice.
Thus, it is next to impossible for customers to verify that taxes are correctly applied on their monthly invoice.
In an email to me on Oct. 31,2008, Kevin Crull states in part:
“I’ll have to get one of our experts to give you a call and explain some of the challenges we have — seems nothing is easy. One of the big drivers of complexity is that there are very different tax rules by product, by province and even within sub-segments of a product… so the tax calculation is always confusing.”
My response (as a retired I.T. professional) is:
While calculation of sales taxes may be complex, once the tax status for a line item is determined, printing the status on monthly invoices by means of a simple alpha-code is not!
If a ‘mom & pop’ store can provide details on invoices, why can’t Bell?
For the record, not all ‘Goods & Services’ on Bell invoices attract GST and Provincial Taxes.
Examples of exemptions are:
- 911 Emergency Service Access is exempt of both Federal and Provincial taxes.
- Internet – Total Performance Option is exempt of Provincial Sales Tax’ — 8% of 47.95-monthly on my invoice ($3.84).
2a. Bell is inconsistent in the way it processes invoice adjustment and corrections!
Invoice adjustments can (and do) appear in one of two ways:
* Exclusive of sales taxes + computed taxes in the tax totals, $2.00 + .10 + .16 = $2.26
* Including the sales taxes (without explanation, $2.26 exempt of taxes
This complicates a customer’s ability to identify and understand billing adjustments and verify applicable sales taxes.
Logically, the corrections should follow the same method as the originating error.
Finally, not having received total satisfaction from Bell in understanding the application of Sales Taxes, I contacted the Federal Government – GST Branch, to find out the requirements to print Sales Tax Codes on invoices.
The person I spoke to clearly understood the problem of customers not being able to validate sales tax charges on invoices.
Her recommendation was to file a complaint with The Commissioner of Complaints for Telecommunication Services, http://www.ccts-cprst.ca
You may wish to bring this course of action to the attention of your readers.
BD
Oct 20 2009
My mother is 89 years of age and just moved from a place where she had lived for over 55 years.
She has been a Bell customer for over 50 years. This is how they treated a very good customer.
Last June, she changed her phone service from Bell to Rogers because that is the cable service at her residence. She was charged an addition $184.48, which is made up of $150 early termination contract fee, plus a monthly fee, plus tax.
My mother has never had a contract and never signed anything with Bell EVER.
Bell took the money out of her account. She has spent hours on the phone and no call backs. She gave up until she saw your article on Saturday.
RS
Oct 20 2009
I had Bell internet at home, but moved to Toronto last November. I was promised that I could transfer and keep the existing address. I moved and got high speed and had to take a new address, as my existing one COULD NOT be transferred.
After long and frustrating discussions with India, I was told I could get the old address back in October ‘09. Have just tried once again and am told that the address is not available! It is already in use?
I am especially heartened that at the end of each frustrating call, I am sweetly asked if all my problems were resolved!
Bell is a company dealing with communication and technology. It’s too bad they can do neither well.
The “old Bell” was a marvel of efficiency. Perhaps Kevin Crull could look back to his company’s roots with respect to Customer Service.
SK
Oct 20 2009
Mr. George Cope, C.E.O.
Bell Canada
1000 Rue De La Gauchetiere Ouest
Bureau 3700
MONTREAL, PQ H3B 4Y7
Dear Mr. Cope,
My home phone was disconnected on Sept. 10, 2009 not because of non-payment of services, but because of an alleged 2004 MODEM I received.
It is with much regret that I have to implicate you in this situation as they have “backed me into a corner” and my only recourse of getting any satisfaction and justification is by getting you involved.
The matter involves the alleged purchase of a BELL CANADA MODEM in 2004, which I never received. I have asked them to produce evidence, such as a delivery notice, an invoice or even a statement that this MODEM was received or even used. They could not, and this is why this situation is so maddening and frustrating.
I agree that I did order a MODEM, but after waiting over 6 weeks and it was not delivered, I cancelled it. This cancellation was verified by Bell, as they confirmed that it was never delivered.
The initial notification I had of this purchase was when I received a letter from NOR-DON, a Collection Agency on Sept. 16, 2008, requesting a payment of $215.08.
I immediately contacted Bell and after several transfers I was finally able to speak to someone who was of some assistance.
After numerous emails between NOR-DON, Bell Canada and myself, and several verbal assurances that this matter would be taken care of, we are right back where we started.
I tried to contact my kids at home on Sept. 10, and to my dismay, found out that the phone was disconnected. I contacted Bell only to find out that it was because of the non-payment of $140.27 for the MODEM (Bell for some reason had reduced the original amount).
An email was immediately dispatched to Bell requesting that my phone be re-connected, but of course, I am still awaiting a response. How dare Bell leave my family stranded like this with no means of keeping in touch?
I am extremely upset, to the point where I am contemplating after 28 years with Bell going to another service provider. And, if my phone is not connected immediately, this will be my option.
The bottom line is, I expect Bell Canada to compensate me for the grief, frustration and embarrassment and tarnishing my impeccable credit rating over the past year and a half.
I expect Bell to contact NOR-DON and retract the collection notice.
I need a written apology from Bell.
I trust that you are not as lethargic and uncaring for other people’s feelings and lives as your employees.
AF
Oct 21 2009
I have paid Bell on time since my husband and I first started an account with them 10 years ago.
Last month, I saw my cheque was cashed by Bell as usual. I got my bill this month and saw my account was not credited from the cheque they cashed ($101.27).
I checked online with my bank and saw again that my cheque was definitely cashed Sept 24th. I was able to print out the copy of it.
I phoned Bell and was soon transferred to the billing/credit management dept. They told me my account was not paid and basically treated me like I was a deadbeat
and demanded I immediately pay.
The new bill is not even due until Oct. 26th. They said I should ask my bank to give me back the money and pay them again. I spoke to my bank and I couldn’t get this done, as the cheque has already cleared.
There is no problem on the bank end. Bell lost the money they took out of my account. I was very upset and
offered to fax Bell the tracer copy of my cheque. I was rudely told I could not.
Then he opened up a dispute to be forwarded to the investigations dept. I was fed up and called CRTC, which gave me the # for the executive Bell office.
I am now dealing with a man named Ganesh, who is very nice. I faxed him a copy of the cheque and he said he would forward it to the investigations dept and I would probably hear back in 10 days.
It’s not 10 days yet but I feel very upset about this whole thing. Bell did not even have the decency to apologize for their error, or admit they made a mistake. They seemed to be blaming us for their stupidity. They even had a nerve
to say thank you for choosing Bell..
They did take off the $101 I paid them last month until the investigation is over. Why is this taking them 10 days when they have the proof I paid?
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Thank you so much for your help.
The Bell executive office phoned me today and said the matter was resolved. The money was found.
For some reason, it had ended up in “misapplied payments” because the stamped numbers from the bank on the back of the cheque were not clear.
The lady who called me today said it should have only taken 2 days to resolve this, not 10 as I was told. Apparently this was resolved last week but I was not informed.
I told her how I was treated by the credit/management dept. and she said she would look into it. She apologized for the poor treatment I had received and the runaround I was given.
I am just glad they found out where my money went and I am glad it is now applied to my account.
Thank you so much for your help! I still would have been hanging on waiting for an answer from Bell otherwise.
MikeP
Oct 21 2009
At this point, can we really say it is Bell can’t fix its customer service, or is it fair to say that Bell won’t?
Mark Henschel
Oct 21 2009
To answer MikeP:
Over the years, my experience with every one of the phone companies has been that, with respect to customer service, they are all quite similar and similarly bad. Essentially they are operating in the context of a system that rewards this behaviour and fails to reward adequate customer service. It doesn’t pay for them to treat their customers with consideration and respect and there are no significant penalties for treating them with disdain.
However, my most recent experiences with Fido and Bell indicate that, when push comes to shove, Fido is more willing to remediate while Bell is steadfastly unrepentant. Certainly the page that contains the definition of the word “loyalty” was torn out of Bell’s dictionary long ago.
Jon
Oct 22 2009
I’ve had my share of problems with Bell and then I wondered who I hated that much and deserved that much misery? My boss and a few others came to mind. That was 2 years ago and the boss still bitches to this day about ongoing problems from six months ago. Bell’s more consistent that way. If something can be screwed up or screwed over, you can count on them.
To the mountain of others who are suffering Bells never ending ineptness, just leave them. That will do everyone some good. And to those who’ve invested in them widowers and pensioners, are you mad? The stock much like managements IQ has actually flatlined and is trending downwards. They couldn’t even manage being taken over without shooting themselves in the foot with their own “iron clad clause.” Ellen, it’s commendable of you volunteering as part of Bells escalation team. But people do need to learn and do things on their own, like leave them permanently.
As for me I’m living and loving life and waiting for my hockey team in Hamilton.
TLG
Oct 22 2009
We live on the shores of Lake Simcoe in Pefferlaw, albeit not a large community – but one that pays for Bell services like any other community in Ontario.
For the last 8 years that my husband and I have lived here, we have encountered endless problems with our Bell lines that have plagued our whole neighbourhood.
Beyond not being able to get simple service like Call Answer, as our lines are too old to offer this service (so we have the old fashion answering machines plugged in that sounds so professional when you are running a home business), someone on the street finds themselves completely without service on a weekly basis.
This creates the ritual that we have all come to know – were we once again curl at the thought of speaking to the folks in India that try to tell us that they will send over a Bell technician to fix our in-house lines at a service charge of $80.
Then with some authority, you try to explain that our new house does not have internal line trouble and that this is a regular occurrence that we share with our neighbours - at which point they do some sort of check to claim there have been no other incidents reported in the area.
Little do they know we all have internet with Rogers cable and can communicate among ourselves as the phones are unreliable – as is the Bell call centre.
However, as one then tries to hold their composure because any sign of frustration can end up with being disconnected –and then you start all over again.
You explain that they need to send a technician out for the lines on the street because that is where the problem is. The techs they send to service the street are outsourced contractors and we have all become quite friendly on a first name basis.
We have learned that our lines in the ‘hood are so old – and have so many band-aids that there is little they can do to correct the problem – and nothing less than NEW lines are needed.
I went through this process myself again last week. I got the Record or Work Order with a reference number that I could report my opinion about the Bell Service Experience as requested on the bottom of the work order.
I went on to explain that my phone line went down on the Saturday before Thanksgiving holiday –how extremely convenient – and when we called on Sunday, we got an appointment for sometime on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
I noted the fact that my home security goes through the telephone lines and the “beeping” from the system to advise there was a problem was driving us crazy – and the home security technician was at our door first thing Tuesday morning – Thank GOD Thanksgiving dinner was not at my house on the Monday;0}.
I advised Bell that it was formally documented that our security system was shut down due to the faulty BELL lines.
When the technician showed up on Wednesday for the Bell lines – of course there was no problem with our home line, as we advised – he documented on his work-order under “description of work completed:”
YOUR LINE HAS BEEN REFERRED TO CABLE
Meaning “the inside Bell guy can’t fix it and this has to be outsourced to the outside street cable contractor guy” …..hmmmm, go figure!
So the contractor comes back. We make small talk about the weather and he proceeds to tell us there are three spare outlets that he should have available to get our service up and running, but they too do not work.
After all day of more band-aids, we got our lines back on Thursday night – October 15/09.
FYI – I emailed my service experience on Friday, Oct. 16 – ‘as requested on the bottom of the work-order’ to:
http://www.bellcustomerservice.ca/
And funny – no reply.
Then I read your article on Saturday in the Star – What a coincidence;0}
PS - Like many others, I run my business from home and have chosen Vonage as my business carrier so that I get the services and reliability that I expect and pay for.
————————————————————————————
Good day Ellen, Bell got back to me and said they do not have plans in the near budget to replace our 60-year-old lines.
At least we (the neighborhood) can make an informed decision with regard to our telephone service provider, because in this day and age Bell is not the only game in town.
Thanks for your assistance. We got a lot farther with your help than we have in 8 years.
Lynn
Oct 22 2009
I”ve said this on this website before, but check to make sure you are getting what you are paying for from Bell.
I signed up for high speed internet from Bell and for a year it was so slow. When I would call, I would get the “yes ma’am, you are signed up for high speed, it says so in your account”.
Then, for another reason, I was transferred to a “tech” guy and he told me that the speed assigned to my account was not the speed I had paid for, for the last year.
I actually had the service that was one above dial up. Almost $30 a month difference.
So always check. Ask to speak to a “tech” guy.
Lior
Oct 26 2009
Bell is just pathetic when it comes to customer service. Ellen knows me very well and helped me sort out issues with Bell a few times.
One thing they could do to improve service is ditch the Punjabi call centre, where there’s obviously complete disregard to providing customer service.
I found that at times I can’t even understand the other person on the end of the line. Even when you ask to be transferred to a manager, they refuse! After all, there’s no Bell personnel there, hence no manager to talk to.
If you insist on being transferred to a manager, they’ll just hang up the phone on you. The people from Bell’s offices over here can search for that person until tomorrow. Not that they would anyway, but it goes to show how there’s no accountability.
As far as dealing with Bell goes, I found out it’s not worth getting upset over a bunch of people who obviously just don’t care. If I see that I’m getting nowhere on an issue, I will contact either Ellen or the E.O. myself and the matter gets resolved quickly.
You may ask yourselves just how many times do you deal with Bell to begin with? Quite seldom, actually. But when I do, it’s almost always has to be escalated as their agents in the call centre are the most infuriatingly annoying and incompetent bunch of twits.
Last week I called to add a satellite receiver. With Rogers, adding a new receiver is a non-issue. You go to your nearest Rogers store that carries the equipment and pick up a new receiver; they usually activate it on the spot. No fees, no fuss.
With Bell, unless you actually buy the receiver, they want to install it themselves. Fine. Come and install it. Ahhh… but they want $75 to install the receiver! And I’m not talking about putting in a brand new line. I mean just hooking it up, literally a 2 minutes job.
Yes, Bell charge you a fee to give them more business! Moreover, they actually charge a security deposit of $50 for the receiver and then credit it the next month. Why would you charge a security deposit if your own people are installing the equipment?! Besides, the security deposit doesn’t even cover the cost of the receiver.
Long story short, once I heard they wanted to charge me $75 to connect a receiver to the outlet (the line to the satellite was already installed previously), I told them I wanted to cancel my TV service with them.
They transferred me to their retention department, which is apparently based in Quebec, who ultimately ended up promising to reverse the charge and provide a free perk for three months. Now I’m waiting for the actual bill to see if they’ll actually reverse the charge.
One thing you learn with Bell is what they say and what they do are two totally different things.
Falo
Oct 29 2009
A friend of mine just had an incredible story with Bell. He has been a customer for more than 20 years. Do you remember the days when users had to rent telephone sets from Bell? Well, this friend had been renting a telephone set from Bell for the past 15 years, paying a monthly fee of $15.
In 2006, realizing what a raw deal this is, he decided to return the set and was told to take it back to one of the Bell stores, which he did. He asked if he needs to do anything else or if he should get a confirmation number and was told no and that it’s already ‘in the system’ and the charges will stop.
Fast forward to today. He is checking his bill and realizes that Bell is STILL charging him for the telephone set rental he returned in 2006! He decides to call them and is told that he must report back to the store where he returned it. He does, only to be told there is nothing they can do for him.
Back to customer service. After 1.5 hours on the phone, he is told they can’t help him and the only thing they can do is stop charging him from now on, and offer him a one time discount of $10!
Not only have they been charging $15 monthly on a telephone set for the past 15 years, but they would not return the money they charged since he returned the set 3 years ago! … OK, he should have been less trusting and checked his bill more closely, but the fact is these things happen too often to be classified as ‘mistakes’. They are done systematically and on purpose to pad the bottom line of these companies, preying exactly on the kind of people that don’t track their bills vigorously.
One last thing to say, it’s not only Bell’s fault. The truth is there is a government body that is supposed to regulate the telcos and protect rights of the consumer. It has completely failed its intended purpose. I’m talking about the CRTC.
The CRTC today is completely in the pocket of Bell and the big telcos. Look at the recent examples to allow Bell to throttle internet service, charge usage based billing for independent carriers (which would kill 3rd party internet providers), violate net neutrality, Rogers to modify dns redirecting. Not only that, but the CRTC is also trying to protect Bell and Rogers from competition from cell phone entrants such as Globalive.
It’s time for the question to be asked: Whose interests does the CRTC serve? The consumer or the large telcos, with whom the regulators are in bed? Unfortunately, it seems they could care less about the consumer.
Its time for action, sign the petition, spread the word:
http://www.dissolvethecrtc.ca/
Mark Henschel
Oct 29 2009
Whenever I deal with any of these companies, Bell, Rogers, Telus, etc. or read stories such as this I remember reading Grisham’s “The Rainmaker” and wondering whether art is imitating life or it’s the other way around.
I’m not sure where the CRTC fits into this vision but it does seem to be inadequate to the task that is its mandate.
RecruitingAnimal
Nov 1 2009
Last Monday Oct 26 2009, my sister’s phone service conked out. She called Bell and was told that they could send out a technician. She wd be charged about $100 plus any equipment costs.
I went to her apartment. All 3 jacks were out so I figured it was likely to be something outside of her home rather than inside.
I called Bell and spoke to a nice guy in India and asked him to have her line checked without charging her for sending out a technician.
I had to call a number of times because my sister had just moved and I didn’t have all of the correct information.
Friday I got a call (from India) telling me that the 489 exchange was disabled because the cable was broken.
The woman told me that many people had lost their phone, internet and television service. But it wd be back by Sunday Nov 1.
There was huge construction going on in the middle of the road behind my sister’s apartment. I had wondered if that had might have been an issue all along. I asked the woman who had called me but she didn’t know.
That same day, Friday, my internet went down. I called Rogers and the help desk guy immediately told me that service my area was down.
Why didn’t the help desk at Bell have the same info? It took from Monday to Friday to let us know that the entire area was suffering from a broken cable.
They have very nice people on the line in India. But they are not being given the info necessary to do their job right.
DN
Nov 4 2009
I’m writing on behalf of my mom regarding recent changes in her Bell Internet service.
After researching Bell’s no longer unlimited Internet service, I stumbled upon your article “Bell blue leaves too many customers seeing red” posted on October 17.
My mom has been a loyal Bell customer with four types of services: home phone, television, Internet and a Yellow Pages ad for her business. She has been signed onto their unlimited high speed Internet service since December 2001.
This past summer around May/June, she called in for a repair on her Internet because the connection line was broken on their end. The Bell representative scheduled a repair and gave us a new dual modem-router.
A friend of mine sent me an article about Bell’s new proposition to eliminate unlimited Internet service and told me to check my mom’s account, since a lot of customers were being switched off their unlimited service without notice.
And there it was. My mom was now on a cap, 60 GB per month bandwidth, and she went over her limit, too. What angered me was not the fact that Bell is changing their services, but that they changed it without any authorization.
I researched more and found out that Bell representatives change a consumer’s service once they call technical support. So if my mom never had a broken Internet connection, she may still have been on her original service.
Many consumer reports said they were able to get their unlimited Internet back when they emailed Kevin Crull. My mom sent an email to him this week and received a call today from a representative, Patrick Olsen, who said he could not give her the original service back. All he could do was compensate her for this month’s overcharge.
She told him that many people were able to get their original service back and why wasn’t she able to? He said that those people contacted Kevin within 30 days of the changes made by reps. My mom didn’t even know about the new changes and if it wasn’t for her going over the limit, she would still not have known today.
Since she was a loyal customer for so long, I would have thought Bell would do much more to try to resolve the issue. So I’m writing to you for advice. What do you think we should do?
Anthony Caruso
Nov 11 2009
@DN
The advice is to leave Bell. I have my TekSavvy order for next week to change phone and internet service.
They did the same thing to me and had the nerve to begin charging me $5 more per month for less service, without notifying me (saw it on my next bill). Then I called Bell “customer service” and they would not change it back. I asked for an email with an offer for a contract but the phone team could not do it. I had to email in. After agreeing on a 1 year contract, I too was on a 60GB cap (the irony was in the 5 years I had the unlimited, I never cracked 30GB -half the cap). So after 6 months on this new contract, my bill suddenly increased by $15.
After calls, emails, instant chats where they determined it was a 6 month promotion (even though I had it in writing that it was for 1 year), and several promises of supervisor and manager call backs, I emailed the Bell Executive Office and cc’ed Ellen. I then received a callback and eventually they agreed and honoured the 1 year contract. Too late. After countless hours dealing with support, I’m out.
From what I hear, TekSavvy support is great, the internet service is more or less the same as Bell (they use Bell lines) and the price is less, with no contract. Can’t wait to be Bell free. I’m in no way affiliated with TekSavvy except for being a future customer, and look forward to the little guys getting some attention.
Norm
Nov 13 2009
Recently, I had a terrible experience with Bell. I was receiving phone calls from a fax machine during the middle of the night. I was able to track the phone number down and I gave it to Bell.
It took several hours of telephone conversations, being shuffled from one department to the next, talking to morons who didn’t have a clue what to do, and after one week of torture, I was informed that I could have a package deal, slightly less than what I was paying that would give me the ability to block these calls.
Apparently, if you have the service you can block up to 12 phone numbers. Why wasn’t I told about this in the first place?
I would love to switch to a wireless phone with someone else. However, I believe I can’t take along my land phone number to a wireless. This is the only reason for my hesitation. Any suggestions?
A few years ago I was a Sympatico subscriber until I told Bell to jump in the lake. Terrible, terrible, terrible service. The worst service of any company I have encountered.
Bonnie Rombach
Dec 5 2009
After being a Bell customer for close to 30 years and a senior citizen in my 70’s, I was upset when Bell charged me an extra $30 for internet usage over my normal fee. When questioned, they said that it was because I had used more GB than allowed. I had no idea that there was a restriction on the amount of usage. I was told that they would drop the fee one time, but from now on I would have to pay.
As I was trying to figure out just how much was actually due, I discovered that according to the calculations printed on their invoice for my monthly telephone service, the taxes appeared to be calculated on an amount rounded up to the nearest dollar. Bell said that each line of the invoice was taxed separately.
My question is? How does Bell calculate the amount of tax they must then remit to the government? Are they remitting based on total gross income? or are they remitting the total of actual tax collected? If the former, then are they not, in effect, illegally collecting more than they are remitting? A few cents from every customer amounts to a whole lot more than they should legally be allowed to collect, and are they not cheating.
I am changing my service provider. I can’t take the problems anymore. It previously took them months to resolve an internet connection issue regarding constant breakdown.
Marnie Young
Dec 30 2009
I actually just got off the phone, leaving yet another message for a Bell rep to call me back.
We cancelled our service back in September, but had to pay till October 15th. We did so, plus paid the bill in full and returned the receiver.
I have received 3 collection calls stating that I owe another $170. Finally after 3 calls on my behalf, I found out that they want me to pay for their NHL Centre Ice package, even though I no longer have their service.
I just received a final notice saying they are taking it to collections, but I don’t feel I should have to pay for a service I have no way of receiving.
Help! Any suggestions are appreciated.
T Kelly
Jan 25 2010
We recently received an unsolicited call from Bell. They said they had noticed inconsistencies in our high speed service and would like to come out and improve it for us.
When they arrived, they offered to upgrade our speed and explicitly told us that this would in no way impact our current agreement, bill, account, etc. The technician was very helpful.
We then received, a few days later, an email from Bell indicating that we were now on the MAX 12 plan with a maximum monthly data consumption of 5 GB’s. We have had UNLIMITED data for years.
So much for being told our current agreement, monthly charges, etc. would not change.
We immidiately called and told them we wanted our unlimited plan back. None of the changes were explained to us and we had not agreed to any of this.
We were so skeptical of the first call, offering to come out to improve our service, that we actually called Bell to make sure this wasn’t some sort of fraud.
After all, who has ever received a call from Bell where they were actually proactively offering to do something for their customers?
Countless calls and hours later, we have been told time and time again that they cannot move our service back to unlimited, as that plan no longer exists.
Through these countless calls, never has anyone from Bell offered to compensate us or apologise for our inconvenience and this blatant self serving program to get people off unlimited. By the way, we are not heavy users and consume approximately 20GB per month.
Long story short, after 18 years as a loyal Bell customer who paid their bill in full every month, we are moving our business elsewhere.
Derek Bowen
Apr 26 2010
I closed my Bell Expressvu account in October 2009…I returned the PVR, but Bell charged me TWICE for non-return, then credited one amount back…
I called in November 2009 and they said the amount would be taken off my bill. By January 2010, it was not off my bill, so I called again, and again they said it would be taken off.
In the meantime, the collections people see that I have had $535 owing on my account since October, so they’ve been calling me like crazy… at first just once a day, then a letter saying they would disconnect (I also have a cell with Bell, which they said they could disconnect).
I called customer service again about the disconnection notice - they said don’t worry, it’s fine…
I then started getting up to 24 calls a day. They don’t seem to care that I have a credit pending on the account.
I called the collections department and they were no help at all. My boyfriend got on the phone with them to speak to her supervisor and she said she had no supervisor. She argued with him and cut him off continuously until he just got fed up.
We called customer service and they said they would send a notice to collections to stop harassing me. They verified again that I was wrongly billed and a credit would be applied within days.
The calls stopped for one day. They continued again for about two days and now my cell phone (will Bell) has been disconnected!!!
Here’s an update… called Bell again and they said my account would be credited (again). They had my cell service reconnected.
Got another letter saying my credit would be affected if I didn’t pay. We called the collections line and reiterated we didn’t owe a thing. The guy at Bell looked at the account and noted there were refunds for late payments. We asked him “why would we be refunded for late payments if we owed anything?!?!” The guy was stumped, said we obviously didn’t owe anything and we left it at that.
Received our April bill and the $535 is still on the bill. Will be calling again Monday morning. Yay.
Cell disconnected again! Called Bell Mobility, but they can’t do anything since the charge comes from Expressvu.
JP
May 27 2010
May 23, 2010
For the past 35 years, Bell’s repair service has been disastrous.
Where I live, I have no choice but putting up with it and it is getting worse along with some other services that I use and which Bell provides.
No wander many customers who have other choices have given Bell the boot.
Duane
Jul 14 2010
I cancelled my mobile phone May 1st 2010. With 1 year left in my contract, I decided to buy them out.
It all started when my original phone died after 2 years. I thought no problem. I will buy a new one, so I did.
Then they wanted to charge me a $15 activation fee. I did not want to pay this for 2 years. I paid my $120 bill every month on time and just bought a new phone.
I talked to customer service a few times to see if they would waive it. Finally, I said okay, you can lose the last year of my contract over $15. They said fine, transferring you to canecellation.
So I cancelled and I had to pay a month of full service $45 a month package, plus my call display, my monthly long distance plan, voice mail. So I had to pay them $120 for not using their service for a month.
Then I told them I would pay them in full once iI received my final bill. Well within 15 days, I had a letter stating pay up the $120 or else it would go to collections. I phoned them and told them I would pay the final bill in full once I received it. This has happened 3 times now. It’s 2 and half months later and still no final bill.
What is the matter with Bell Canada? They treat people with no respect, try to squeeze every penny they can out of people with no regards as to how their company is viewed.
I will never give Bell another penny for the rest of my life, except of course this final bill. Does anyone think it’s unreasonable to say give me a final bill and I will pay you in full. Then wait close to 3 months or more to get it? In the meanwhile, to receive threatening letters from collection agencies?
The more people i talk to about this, the more I hear people’s displeasure with Bell in general. There are too many other options to be treated like this.
Calvin
Jul 30 2010
I received a text from Bell on my iPhone one morning saying that my data usage exceeds $250, and that it will suspend my service if charges reach $500.
I’m using my own wifi connection, so I shouldn’t be charged anything at all!
I visited my local Bell store and tried to contact Bell by phone. Apparently they are closed on Thursdays so I decided to try again tomorrow.
Next morning, I called Bell again. They inform me that I have a data usage fee of THIRTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. I`m a student. I don`t have that kind of money!
At a loss on what to do, I was offered to pay only $100, and the rest of the thirteen grand would be credited.
Thinking back on this, I shouldn’t be charged any money AT ALL. I asked them in store when getting my sim card if I would be charged any money for using my own wireless. They specifically said to me that it would not.
But now they inform me that “If you have 3g turned on, it will override the wifi function of your iPhone and data charges would apply.”
I like how they didn’t tell me this when I brought the phone in and asked about the data charges. Thanks to Bell, I will have to be living off of bowl noodles for the rest of the month.
Ken Bowes
Aug 28 2010
Ellen: When I left an apartment in St. Catharines 4 years ago, I called a representative at Bell, and told her I wanted to do two things: cancel service in SC on a particular date, and then establish new service at a known address in Toronto. She agreed the final bill would be sent to the new address.
Nine months later, I got a letter from a collection agency in Markham. When I called, they said it was in regard to my unpaid final bill from Bell Canada. They had been sending bill after reminder after threat to the SC address, then dumped it into the hands of a collection agency.
I am told subsequently that it was not sloppiness: that Bell owns the collection agency!
I move to a new condo in November. Service there will not be from Bell.
KB